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Do your pick-up lines fail without fail? Are you yet to find an aftershave that actually attracts women? Do your dates never ask you up to their place for a nightcap?
Before you give up on the whole romance thing and start preparing yourself for a life of bachelorhood, you might want to take a good look at your wardrobe and more specifically at the colour of your clothes.
Sexy men in red
Scientists have discovered that, contrary to popular belief the colour that makes men most attractive to women isn’t gold or even the colour of money, but red. A study by researchers from the University of Rochester in the USA, which was published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology earlier this year, found that most women subconsciously consider men who wear red as “higher in status, more likely to make money, more likely to climb the social ladder” and more sexually desirable.
The study included women from England, Germany, the USA and China and the results applied across their cultural differences. While colour did not influence the way women perceived other women, women were consistently found to consider men wearing red as more attractive and sexually desirable. Interestingly, the red effect seems to make men more powerful and sexually attractive to the average woman, but it doesn’t make them seem any more kind, sociable or likeable.
Ladies in red
In a previous study the same group of researchers had found that men have the exact same reaction to women dressed in red. Most of the men tested, considered women dressed in red more beautiful and sexually attractive, but not necessarily any more kind or likeable. Men didn’t find other men dressed in red more attractive than those wearing different colours.
Biology and culture
Scientists believe that there are various cultural reasons that explain the effect the colour red has on humans of both sexes – think of the “red carpet” and the idea of “painting the town red” – but ultimately the response is probably biologically ingrained in the inner recesses of our being and part of our evolutionary baggage.
The sexual power of the colour red is well known throughout the primate world and both male and female non-human privates are very adept at interpreting changes in blood flow in the face and other parts of the anatomy. Among chimpanzees, for example, the highest ranking male turns a dramatic red when the social hierarchy of a troop is being determined. In the case of gelada baboons and mandrills, too, alpha males are known to express their social dominance through that colour. When they near ovulation, female chimpanzees and baboons send unequivocal sexual signals to prospective male partners by reddening conspicuously.
Don’t over-do it
So there you have it: if you want a sure-fire way of making yourself more attractive to the opposite sex in a romantic way, all you have to do is wear more red. That doesn’t mean that you should hang out it singles bars in red dungarees and scarlet full body suits, of course. Sure, you’d get noticed, but not in the way you want.
Keep it subtle. Discreet red accents – like a stylish tie – will do the trick. Now simply wait for the babes to line up, ready to talk to your irresistibly redder and scientifically-proven-to-be-more-sexy self.
(Andrew Luyt, Health24, August 2010)
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